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Golden Horn Isolation Zone, near Seoul.

A dispute was erupting in a district designed for people with golden horns and their families to live together.

“Hey, don’t be so stubborn. Selling it now is for the highest price. I know a dealer who offers reasonable rates and is very ethical.”

“Absolutely NOT! Who in their right mind would sell their horns?”

Ignoring the man’s words, the girl with golden horns strode ahead while the cowardly-looking man, following her, spoke up again.

“Well, they’ll just disappear naturally after you turn 30, so if you cut and sell them, you make money and it’s great. Good is good.”

“I don’t want to! A sister I knew before sold hers and ended up depressed and committed suicide! You didn’t introduce that, did you, Uncle?”

The man exaggeratedly feigned shock and denied it.

“Of course NOT. I’m very supportive of depression care. I have horns too; do you think I don’t know that?”

“Oh! If it’s so good, why don’t you sell YOURS first? Horn!”

The girl with the golden horns turned around and yelled.

It was understandable that the cowardly man had been trailing her for 30 minutes; it would be annoying too.

“Ah, this? I can’t sell it; it’s my business tool. If I cut my horn, I can’t come in here, so what would I live on? You said I’d be living outside soon, right? So wouldn’t it be nice to have extra money? And it’s dangerous to go out with horns; there are so many people targeting us~”

“Anyway, I’m NOT selling!”

When the girl with the golden horns arrived home and slammed the door shut, the man’s voice finally vanished.

As the girl thought, not everything the man said was wrong.

It was indeed true that the crime rate of horn-cutting had sharply increased these days.

Still, she had to go outside.

To find her only missing sister.

*

In a detective agency basking in pleasant sunlight, I was sitting in a rocking chair enjoying the rays.

[This incident appears to be breaking the previous maximum financial damage associated with objects….]

The TV was blaring about the damages from the ‘Steel Tower Pulsation’ incident, stating it had reached an all-time high.

That was understandable because research institutions related to Seoul Forest were lining the area, which had been turned to dust in an instant.

In addition, numerous buildings had vanished.

Of course, the construction industry was booming with increased job opportunities.

“Senior! By the way, isn’t this the first in our country?”

“The first?”

The junior sprawled across the desk suddenly lifted their head excitedly.

“The first country to reclaim land taken by objects! America hasn’t had a case of that, right?”

“Well, I think there have been a few cases in the U.S. and China, but reclaiming land from an object that occupies an area as vast as the Ice Throne seems to be a first.”

The junior’s eyes sparkled with interest.

“I wonder what kind of people reclaimed Dobong-gu? They sneaked in risking their lives, and SUCCESSFUL OPERATION! This has to be made into a movie, right? Of course, it has to be!”

“I heard stories are already circulating, but I don’t know when it’ll come out. These days it’s hard to find these kinds of hero tales, so I think the government will also support it.”

“That makes sense!”

The junior grinned like a fool.

“Oh, speaking of which, didn’t we fail our request?”

As soon as the request topic came up, the lively junior sagged over the desk like a boiled cabbage.

“No, um, it wasn’t a failure… Someone solved it faster than I did. Honestly! Isn’t it cheating if the place that commissioned us solves it themselves?”

The junior seemed frustrated, flopping down on the desk.

Well, no matter how much they whined, that was all outlined in the contract, so it couldn’t be helped.

“I should be heading out soon.”

I got up from my seat, threw on my coat, and adjusted my outfit in the mirror.

“Where are you suddenly going? Aren’t there no requests?”

“I just feel like an important request is calling me.”

“Huh?”

Leaving the puzzled junior behind, I hit the road.

*

Yawn.

I felt oddly bored and yawned.

Even though I was fully liberated from physical fatigue, the yawn came.

Maybe this was just a human habit from my past life.

The TV was arguing about some trivial matters.

This was also something discussed when the Steel Tower first appeared, and when the Ice Throne in Dobong-gu first appeared.

[It’s time to move the capital! There are plenty of much better locations!]

[Do you think it’ll be safe anywhere else? This time, even an object that turns people into dishes appeared in Daejeon!]

They were talking about moving to a new nest away from Seoul.

The same conversation had popped up every year for nearly a decade, but surveys always showed that many wanted to stay in Seoul.

Of course, if you surveyed the residents of Seoul, such results would be expected.

From my experience of moving around different places in my human life, I found it strange.

People always think their place is relatively safe.

Seoulites believed Seoul was the safest, while Busan residents believed Busan was the safest.

Since the news always only showed brutal object incidents, one would feel like anywhere was dangerous.

People feel comfortable where they currently live since they actually live there.

I turned off the TV, which repeated the same stories like a parrot.

*

I seemed to have gained a strange power from breaking my golden heart.

It was the ability to temporarily create something by consuming the inner flames.

The duration was probably about a day?

As a test, I tried making something, and a golden doll that looked just like me was created.

Ooh, interesting.

It was a remarkably detailed doll that even replicated the texture, and the firewood used was minimal, so I made a bunch.

By the time my bed was filled with golden dolls, I realized a very annoying problem had occurred.

The golden dolls began moving uncontrollably.

I couldn’t control them separately.

The dolls rushed at me like they were affection-starved.

They clung to me to the point where I couldn’t even watch TV, and it became so bothersome that I escaped onto the wardrobe.

Next to me was the ghost cat that had already fled.

Meow.

With an annoying meow, it scolded me for creating such a thing.

The troublesome dolls had taken over my isolation room.

But it felt a bit cruel to just smash them.

They were my creations; destroying them just because I didn’t need them now would be against reason.

At that moment, I sensed Yerin looking from outside the isolation room.

Hehe, a very good idea occurred to me.

Yeah, let’s give them all to Yerin.

*

Upon hearing the news that the reaper had returned, I seized the opportunity and sneakily slipped out, only to encounter a shocking scene.

“A reaper, full of them!”

Mini golden reapers were bouncing around inside the isolation room.

They were jumping up trying to touch the reaper on the wardrobe.

Being smaller than the reaper, they were twice as cute!

I walked into the isolation room as if entranced.

The miniature reapers, jumping up to climb the wardrobe, all turned to look at me.

Receiving their gazes, which surged like a wave, felt distinctly different.

Looks like there are an amazing number of golden reapers.

I picked up one of the golden reapers that just stared without coming closer.

It was small enough to fit in one hand.

Wow, it’s so soft.

So cute.

As I held it, the golden reaper, which had been tense with its body frozen, must have realized I meant no harm as it climbed up my arm and clung to my cheek.

With that, all the golden reapers in the isolation room rushed towards me.

Hehe, I’m so happy.

*

As soon as I left the isolation room, I immediately took a half-day off and exited the research institute.

Of course, it was to secretly move the golden reapers home.

Taking objects out without permission? It’s fine as long as I’m not caught!

When I released the golden reaper I had packed into my bag into my house, they bounced around and spread everywhere.

A few climbed my body and clung to me.

Ah, is this heaven?

The golden reapers’ eating habits were similar to that of reapers.

They liked sweet things like snacks.

The only difference was that they showed no interest in things like TVs.

The original reaper strangely often had the news on; I wondered what the difference was?

The golden reapers were ten times more cat-like than the original, so my belongings didn’t last, but they were so cute that it was fine.

They knocked things over, and when I tried to catch them, they ran away…

As I played with the reapers, a day flew by in an instant.

Late at night, the golden reapers seemed sleepy too, closing their eyes and climbing onto me, beginning to nod off.

It’s similar to the original; they stick when they get sleepy.

As I lay down on the bed, their warmth was very comforting.

*

For some reason, my vision felt shaky and hazy.

I was hugging the golden reapers tightly in my arms.

“Yes! This is it!”

Ah, I’m so happy. Days with the mini reapers.

Ah, I’m so happy.

Is this happiness?

But one by one, the reapers began to escape my embrace, saying goodbye.

“No, no! Wait!”

But despite my cries, the reapers shook their heads with a lonely expression.

“Don’t leave me. Please!”

However, all the reapers left, and tears flowed down my cheeks.

Suddenly feeling cold, I woke up on the bed.

I had been crying in my sleep, just like in my dreams.

And the reapers, just like in my dreams, were nowhere to be found.